


Don't Ask, Don't Tell

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [49]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7791718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver finally works up the courage to tell Diggle the truth about his relationship with Felicity and Tommy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Ask, Don't Tell

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who continues to support this series with comments and kudos. 
> 
> Today's installment is my response to the most frequently requested story prompt - Diggle learning the truth. Being Oliver's bodyguard and friend is never dull.
> 
> likealadyboss recently pointed out to me that some of the new spoilers for the upcoming season all seem to point to Smoaking Billionaires becoming canon.  
> 1\. Felicity gets a new boyfriend.  
> 2\. A main Arrowverse character will be coming out and exploring their sexuality.  
> 3\. The Flashpoint story might bring Tommy Merlyn back.
> 
> I'm going to allow myself to live in that blissful state where I will allow myself to believe it to be true. Join me for a moment, before reality sets in. 
> 
> I'm not telling this series in chronological order. Some readers have requested that I provide a chronological order for the fics in the series. There is no need to read them in chronological order, but in case you'd like to, the list is below.  
> 1\. Beautiful Stranger (Part 28)  
> 2\. The Hack of the Golden Dragon (Part 36)  
> 3\. Girl Wednesday (Part 41)  
> 4\. This Time Last Year (Part 44)  
> 5\. The First Time (Part 1)  
> 6\. Aloe and Chamomile (Part 40)  
> 7\. The Italian Restaurant (Part 3)  
> 8\. Ground Rules (Part 43)  
> 9\. Do The Hustle (Part 21)  
> 10\. Wherever You Are, There I Am (Part 8)  
> 11\. Perfect (Part 16)  
> 12\. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part 49)  
> 13\. Practical Jokes and Other Misunderstandings (Part 14)  
> 14\. Cobble Hill (Part 4)  
> 15\. House Warming (Part 15)  
> 16\. 30 (Part 30)  
> 17\. Hong Kong (Part 35)  
> 18\. Twenty Questions Over Brunch (Part 11)  
> 19\. Hildy (Part 5)  
> 20\. Burgers & Lies (Part 9)  
> 21\. You Say You Want A Revolution (Part 22)  
> 22\. Look Me In The Eye And Make Me Feel The Truth (Part 12)  
> 23\. Fight Night (Part 20)  
> 24\. Fear and Loathing (Part 42)  
> 25\. Into Thin Air (Part 17)  
> 26\. It’s Just Like Falling (Part 27)  
> 27\. Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow? (Part 7)  
> 28\. Life With The Arrow (Part 23)  
> 29\. Up All Night (Part 6)  
> 30\. Welcome Home (Part 10)  
> 31\. Better Than Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes (Part 24)  
> 32\. Home Is Where You Are (Part 2)  
> 33\. Somebody Get A Hammer (Part 26)  
> 34\. Tush Push (Part 48)  
> 35\. Three (Part 13)  
> 36\. Life Lived In The Tabloids (Part 18)  
> 37\. Tokyo Calling (Part 25)  
> 38\. Something Blue (Part 39)  
> 39\. Prudence Chastity (Part 19)  
> 40\. Love Is Worth It In The End (Part 33)  
> 41\. The Mini (Part 38)  
> 42\. The Hall of Fame (Part 46)  
> 43\. A Name By Any Other (Part 47)  
> 44\. The Drop Out (Part 32)  
> 45\. William (Part 29)  
> 46\. Hold On For One More Day (Part 31)  
> 47\. Yours, Mine, Ours (Part 37)  
> 48\. Saturdays With The Green Arrow (Part 34)  
> 49\. Brothers (Part 45)
> 
> Welcome to any new readers who have stumbled into this universe. The more the merrier.
> 
> Arrow and its characters do not belong to me.

Artwork by Lademonessa

 

Oliver and Felicity had their heads pressed together when Tommy entered his office at Verdant. A suspicious smile spread across his face, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but aren’t you on the wrong floor?”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “We needed a place to talk.”

Tommy’s brow arched, “Again, don’t you have an entire basement for private talks?”

Felicity sighed, “Without Diggle.”

“Ah,” Tommy said trying not to smile, “you still haven’t told him.”

Oliver glared at his boyfriend. He’d been trying for weeks to tell the man that was so much more than a partner about his relationship with Tommy and Felicity. From the looks Dig was shooting him it was clear that he suspected that something was going on with him and Felicity, but Oliver didn’t think he suspected anything about Tommy. The team spent way too much time together for Dig not to notice a shift in Oliver and Felicity’s dynamic, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. Oliver was actually more afraid to tell Dig about his romantic relationship then he’d been to tell him that he was the Hood. When he told him that he was the Hood, the only thing Oliver feared was Dig turning him in to the cops. Now, he was afraid that the truth could cost him his partner and friend who had become his brother. “Would you like to tell him?”

Tommy laughed, “Hell, no. Dig will punch me. He loves the two of you. I’m an unavoidable nuisance.”

“That’s not true,” Felicity said as she covered her smile with her hand.

“No, those were his exact words – Tommy Merlyn, you are an unavoidable nuisance.”

Oliver smiled as he remembered the conversation. Tommy had made one of his rare trips down into the basement because he needed Oliver’s signature. Oliver, Felicity and Dig had been looking through some surveillance and Tommy refused to be put off. Dig had begun to tease Tommy and it eventually led to the unavoidable nuisance moniker. “I should be the one to tell him.”

“We should tell him together,” Felicity took hold of Oliver’s hand, “since we’re together.”

“He’ll speak more freely if it’s just me.” Oliver kissed her forehead, “If it’s going to be a problem, we should know now and not out in the field during a mission when our lives are on the line.”

 

“You’re here,” Oliver stated lamely to Dig as he descended the stairs into the basement.

His bodyguard looked up from where he was taking inventory of their medical supplies. He narrowed his eyes for a second before his features relaxed. “We’re running low on your blood. You might want to donate a pint while we’re between crazy ass criminals.”

“Yeah,” Oliver agreed nervously. Facing Slade seemed far less intimidating than telling Dig about his relationship with Felicity and Tommy. “How’s Lyla doing?” he hoped he didn’t sound as pathetic as he felt.

Dig tilted his head as he opened the drawer where they kept their pain killers, “About the same as when you asked this morning on our way into the office. She’s ready to deliver this baby.”

“Just a few more weeks and you’ll be a dad,” Oliver said as he ran his fingers over a row of arrow shafts waiting to be fitted with their heads.

“Are you all right?” Dig asked straightening up. “Did you and Felicity have a fight?”

Oliver looked up from his arrows with surprise, “Why do you think Felicity and I had a fight?”

“Well,” Dig folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the med table, “the two of you did leave the office together and told me that you’d meet me here.”

“She’s upstairs in the office – helping Tommy – with some computer stuff,” Oliver stumbled over his own tongue as sweat began to bead along his brow. Lying to his parents had never been this difficult for him and lying to Dig for seven months had been agonizing, but try as he might, he could never bring himself to share the truth. The fact that telling the truth was so hard for him should’ve concerned Oliver more than it did. Only sociopaths lied with such alacrity. In his youth, lying to his parents – to Laurel – to the girls he wanted to fuck – it had all been a game to him. Once the Gambit sank, lying kept him alive on the island, in Hong Kong, in Russia and when he got home. It was hard to turn off his instinct to lie, even when he wanted to tell the truth.

“Hey, man,” Dig moved closer to Oliver, “what’s going on?”

Oliver’s hands were shaking and he folded his arms quickly across his chest to hide the tremors, “I need to talk to you about something.”

“You do?” Dig smirked knowingly. “Maybe you need some liquid courage.” He opened Oliver’s old case and retrieved the bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. He filled both glasses to the top and held one out to Oliver. “What or who should we toast to?” he asked with amusement in his eyes.

Oliver took the glass and willed his hand to remain still. “Prognost,” he tapped his glass against Dig’s and tipped the vodka down his throat. The liquid burned his throat as he swallowed, but the burning was soon replaced by a pleasant warmth.

“Listen, Oliver,” Dig said kindly, “if this is about you and Felicity dating, I already know, man. You two are as subtle as an elephant in a library.”

Oliver let out a nervous laugh. He’d already suspected that Dig suspected, but hearing him confirm it threw him slightly off balance. The plan had been to ease him in with Felicity before slamming him over the head with Tommy. “We’ve been together for a while now. It started last winter, but then everything with Slade – it got complicated. We picked things up again after my mom.”

“Oliver,” Dig held up a hand to stop his friend from trying to further explain himself, “I’m happy for the both of you. You both deserve to be happy and you bring out the best in each other.”

Oliver smiled at his friend’s words. Felicity did bring out the best in him, however, he was pretty sure that Felicity didn’t need him. She was remarkable from the day he first met her. “Thanks,” his throat went dry and he had to clear it before continuing, “but that’s not all of it.”

“Okay,” Dig nodded his encouragement.

Oliver sat down in Felicity’s chair and waited for Dig to take a seat. “I always thought that the military’s, don’t ask, don’t tell, policy was really stupid, but I honestly see the appeal of the, don’t tell, part.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Dig teased. When Oliver didn’t smile, Dig leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees, “Oliver, I get the sense that you need me to ask you something, but for the life of me, I don’t know the question.”

John was looking at Oliver with such warmth and compassion that he had to look away lest his own emotions get the better of him, “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve never actually said this out loud before and it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

“Harder than telling me that you were the Hood?” Dig asked incredulously.

Oliver appreciated what Dig was trying to do to set him at ease, but it wasn’t working, “Actually, yeah.”

“Now you have me worried. Are you in trouble?” John’s face was awash with concern.

Oliver shook his head. He took a deep breath and made the decision to pull off the band-aid, “I’m not just involved with Felicity.”

Dig sat up quickly and his anger was instant, “You’re cheating on Felicity? What’s wrong with you?”

Oliver held up both of his hands, concerned that his friend might just take a swing at him before he actually got through everything he needed to say, “Wait, John. Please listen to me. I’m not cheating on Felicity. We’re both seeing someone else – the same someone else.”

Dig shook his head from side to side as if trying to shake off his confusion, “I don’t understand. How can you both be dating the same someone else? Neither of you is…,” understanding dawned on his face.

John went silent as he studied his partner for what seemed like an eternity to Oliver. Dig rubbed his hand across his mouth and arched a brow, “Don’t ask, don’t tell, huh?”

Oliver nodded, his chest tight with anxiety.

Dig returned his elbows to his knees, “Oliver are you bisexual?”

Again, Oliver nodded but was unable to form the words.

Dig stroked his chin and sat up. Almost under his breath he said, “Tommy.”

This time, Oliver was able to find his voice and with relief said, “Yes, Tommy.”

It was Dig’s turn to nod his head. He stood up, “I need a minute. Don’t go anywhere.” He disappeared into the shadows and only the sound of the alley door opening and closing alerted Oliver that Dig had left the foundry.

Oliver didn’t move, he didn’t know if it were even physically possible. All he could hear was the sound of blood rushing through his ears. If John couldn’t accept him or his relationship, he didn’t know what he’d do. As much as Tommy and Felicity had helped him since returning home, it was Dig who had been his beacon in the darkness. Dig had been where Oliver was and he’d identified a way out. Oliver found himself following the path Dig had blazed before him. Oliver didn’t know how he could continue his work as the Arrow if Dig wasn’t by his side. John was as integral to his mission as Felicity. What was of more concern to Oliver, wasn’t what happened to the Arrow, but to Oliver Queen. He wasn’t sure if he could continue to heal from his PTSD without Dig’s counsel and his steadying presence.

After ten minutes the alley door opened and closed again. Dig returned to his chair, “First, if either you or Merlyn hurt our girl, I promise you, no one will ever find your bodies. I know that Felicity is an adult and more than capable of making her own choices, but I need you to tell me that this isn’t some game for you and Merlyn. What happened with Laurel and you two, that can’t happen again, not with Felicity.”

“This is nothing like Laurel,” Oliver tried his best not to sound defensive. “Tommy and I, we love Felicity. We don’t want her to get hurt.”

“What about you and Tommy? Do you love each other?” Dig asked pointedly.

“Yes,” Oliver said without hesitation. “Felicity loves us too.”

“I’m finding all of this a bit hard to process. You and Tommy were pretty notorious back in the day. Was that all for show? I’m assuming that you two were together before the island and that you didn’t just come home and have a revelation about your feelings for him. Are you using Felicity to hide that you’re gay? I will end you if you’re using her. She deserves better than to be your cover story for Merlyn.”

Oliver bristled under Dig’s questions, but he needed Dig to trust him in the field and trust could only happen with truth, “She isn’t our cover story. We aren’t using Felicity – in any way. I’m attracted to women – so is Tommy – but I also have feelings for Tommy and yes, those feelings pre-date the island. We were never together-together before the island but we did mess around when we were under the influence. Neither of us were able to do deal with our feelings back then. We caused each other a lot of pain.”

“That’s what has me worried,” Dig said gently. “You just said that you’re attracted to women and to Tommy – but not to men? It sounds like you might be in some denial.”

Oliver ran his hands over his face and sighed, “Tommy is the only man I’ve ever been attracted to. He’s always been it for me, from the time we were teenagers. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel, I just know that other than Tommy, I’ve never been interested. Maybe that’s denial, but I know how I feel.”

Dig poured himself another shot and drank it down. “I want you to be happy, Oliver. I really do, but if you and Tommy are coming to terms with your sexuality now, is it fair to involve Felicity? Shouldn’t you guys figure it out before you involve a third person in your relationship? This has the potential to really hurt her. Hell, I’m worried about all three of you if this comes crashing down.”

“You don’t think I’m capable of sustaining a relationship?” Oliver challenged.

“Aw man, come on. Your track record for relationships is pretty terrible. I’m not judging, mine isn’t any better. I’m having a baby with my ex-wife.” Dig leaned back in his chair, “I believe you when you tell me that you’re in love with both of them. I can see it in your eyes, but how are you going to balance a relationship with two people when you’ve never been able to do it with one person. How’s this going to work?”

“I know that this is hard to understand and it sounds crazy to you. I get that. I honestly do.” Oliver leaned towards Dig and rested his elbows on his knees, “What I can tell you is that I am in love with both of them and I’ve never been this happy before. For the first time, in such a long time, I can actually breathe.” Oliver rubbed his hands back and forth over his head, “This is new to all three of us. We don’t have a user’s manual, we’re figuring it out as we go, but we’re figuring it out – together. We hoped we’d last thirty days, it’s been seven months. We’re happy, John.”

“Okay,” Dig said standing up.

“Okay?” Oliver asked nervously as he rose to his feet.

Dig shrugged his shoulders, “I won’t pretend to understand, but most people don’t understand other people’s relationships. This isn’t any different.”

“So, we’re good?” Oliver asked cautiously.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Dig held out his hand.

Oliver shook Dig’s hand and he was overcome with a sense of relief, “Thank you.” Dig’s reaction was better than he’d hoped.

Dig’s grip on Oliver’s hand tightened, “I’m going to hug you now.”

Oliver laughed. He could actually use a hug, “Okay.”

The two men embraced and clapped each other’s backs. Dig’s arms tightened for a moment, “If this is what the three of you want, I will support you. That’s what families do.”

Oliver stepped back and clasped Dig’s shoulders, “Thank you. That means everything to me.”

“Who else knows?” Dig asked returning to the med cart to continue his inventory.

Oliver wrinkled his nose, “Other than Tommy, Felicity and me? Just you. You can tell Lyla, but I’d prefer it if she didn’t mention it to Waller.”

“I imagine Amanda already knows.” Dig shook his head in amusement, “The press is going to figure it out, sooner or later. You need to tell Thea before it’s on every channel. Besides, Harper already suspects that you and Felicity are together. I told him if he values his life, he won’t say anything to either of you until you guys confirm it, but I can’t imagine he won’t say something to Thea.”

“We’re going to tell her, soon. She’s got a lot on her plate with Roy right now,” Oliver said truthfully. Tommy and Oliver talked about telling Thea on an almost daily basis. They were too terrified to tell her in the state she’d been in since Moira died.

“She loves the both of you for some crazy reason,” Dig smiled, “and she’ll love Felicity if she’s given the chance.”

“I know. We’re going to tell her.” Oliver wasn’t sure if the prospect of Thea and Felicity becoming friends was more or less terrifying than Thea learning that her brothers were dating Felicity and each other. If Thea found out that Felicity was her brothers’ girlfriend there was no telling what the two of them would get up to. Thea had already been spending some time with Felicity because of Roy. Roy had told Thea the technical truth - that he’d met Felicity at Verdant while she was working on upgrading the club’s cyber security and she’d offered to help him prepare for the GED. Thea had already sung Felicity’s praises to her brothers for helping to tutor Roy.

Dig began to laugh, “From the look on your face I think you’ve just realized how screwed you guys are when Thea and Felicity join forces against you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Hearing from you is my favorite part of the day.
> 
> Any ideas or prompts for what you'd like to read in this universe are always welcome. You have been sharing some great ideas - please keep them coming.
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com/


End file.
